This is a remarkable release, both for its beauty and its novelty at programming. Für Alina is a two-minute solo piano piece composed by Pärt in l976 that ushered in his "tintinnabuli" style, that is, the bell-like, simple, no-notes-wasted method for which he has become beloved and famous. On this CD, pianist Alexander Malter plays it twice, as the second and fourth tracks; each iteration ...
If you don't already have the complete Rachmaninov concertos, you can buy this version with total confidence. There may be better recordings of the individual works (such as the legendary Michelangeli in No. 4 or Argerich in No. 3) but this remains the finest complete recording, unrivalled since it was made in the early 1970s. Only the boxy sound (in itself not bad enough to lessen the ...
"What is this music?" Fundamentally, it's an exploration of what happens when an improvisatory instrumental voice (saxophone) is placed into the world of early vocal music, which has elements of both improvisation and formal structure. In reality, it's an adventure in which the four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble travel the 14th and 15th-century territory of Morales and Dufay, visit the ...